Snowdonia with the LDWA

I recently joined the Long Distance Walking Association (LDWA). I figured it was as good a way as any to get to know other walkers close by and now that John has moved all the way to Durham to escape my whinging maybe I might find someone else crazy enough to accompany me on my adventures. I was invited by the leader of my local group (Mike) to come along on their weekend in Snowdonia during the August bank holiday. Going away with 9 people I had never met before was a little daunting but I figured that by the laws of probability there was bound to be at least one person I liked, if if not I could always run home and never leave the house again. So on Friday afternoon of August Bank Holiday Damien dropped me off at a house in North Bromsgrove, as we were staying in a B&B I had decided on a 35litre backpack, taking basically what I had taken for for Offa's Dyke minus the tent, sleeping bag and mat. Plus some luxuries - a hairbrush, change of underwear and t-shirt for every day, binoculars and a bit of make-up. I had my food for the three lunches I would need in a stuff sack - trail mix, beef jerky, satsumas and kendal mint cake - so almost paleo! The others in the group were quite amazed at my lightweight packing, I think Mike was worried about my apparent lack of preparation, I am sure he was thinking of solutions for when I realised I didn't have enough stuff. The mood was jovial as we set off and I spent much of the journey getting to know the others a little better and sharing our basic life stories etc. By the end of the evening I had met everyone except Ruth who was only walking on the Saturday. They seemed a nice bunch, Mike was evidently in charge and I wasn't surprised to find that he is a teacher! There were 3 newbies including myself, Jonathan and Dave (who later became Bob to avoid confusion) Chris and Cathy were my fellow women, I was sharing a room with Cathy (I'm not sure what I did or said but she dreamt I was a zombie and spent the first night running away from me and screaming!). There was a lovely gentleman called Robin and, later in the evening David and Nick arrived, they confused me by having the wrong names, Dave looked like a Nick and vice versa - I had to concentrate hard on getting their names right all weekend! So that was it, 10 people and all seemed sane. (except me evidently - I had an undead aura about me...)

The whole group ready to set off up the Nantlle Ridge

After a fortifying breakfast and lots of coffee (I hadn't slept well and ended up pulling my mattress onto the floor at 4am as the bed was too soft - maybe I should have brought the sleeping mat after all!!) we gathered under low cloud at the car park at Rhyd Ddu ready for adventures over the Nantlle Ridge to Nebo. I had no idea how close we were to Snowdon, my knowledge of the area amounted to what could be written on a matchbox at the time. Luckily we had Mike, and he knew everything, I am taking a notepad next time! As we set off up to the first peak (Y Garn) we were treated to beautiful views back down the valley, the cloud still shrouded anything above 1700ft so we also had the luxury of not having to look at how much higher we still had to climb. After reaching the summit of Y Garn, we stopped and gazed at the view for a few seconds (we could see for metres!) before moving on to Drws Y Coed and Trum Y Ddysgl, this involved a fair bit of scrambling and ridge walking which was fun though I was glad I couldn't see down through the cloud. I remember nearly freezing to the spot on the ridge up to Hellvelyn a couple of years ago because I made the mistake of looking down! At some point we stopped for coffee, I only had water, it didn't cross my mind to bring a flask so Mike offered me a sip of his, which I promptly finished off, I am converted to coffee and plan to go and buy myself a flask. Too late for Mike though, I am surprised he spoke to me ever again. We lunched alongside a large group of Welsh walkers underneath the towering obelisk on Tal Y Mignedd, luckily Ruth is from the area, once they knew we had a welsh speaker they refrained from insulting us. The afternoon consisted of bagging Craig Cwm Silyn, Garnedd Goch and Craig Goch before descending to Nebo to await the slim chance of a man named Hugh picking us all up in a minibus to take us back to the cars at Rhyd Ddu. On Sunday morning we had a relaxed start, setting off straight from the B&B, no scary rides in minibuses today (Hugh had made good on his promise but had sent Michael Schumacher to pick us up instead). We walked the solitary Northern Rhinogs which are just two mountains: Rhinog Fawr and Rhinog Fach (translated as 'big rhinog' and 'little rhinog' respectively), in reality they are part of a range of peaks, I am not sure how many we did but it seemed a lot! It had started out raining so I put on all my wet weather gear stuff, after ten minutes it had cleared up but I didn't trust the clouds so I stayed wrapped up. I was glad of this when we reached the top, (after a repeat of the coffee drinking incident - Mike is just too kind) it was freezing!! The sun was shining and it appeared to be a gorgeous summer day, however the wind made it feel like the dead of winter. Jonathan had a gadget which measured the wind chill which I think was 3.5 degrees or there about, resulting in a 10degree overall temperature. Actually between the men they had gadgets for everything, we could have completed a total survey of the area and probably built a palace to live in had we wanted to...... Mike regaled us with more information about the area, including a village down by the old nuclear power plant where the residents are 'genetically challenged', apparently the group had stayed there one year and narrowly escaped being chopped up and eaten.

Wrapped up against the wind chill

Once we began the descent and were protected from the wind the rest of the day was delightful t-shirt weather, we passed some amazing rock formations apparently caused by glaciers or something, or most probably aliens. While passing some rocks Mike heard running water underneath and posed us a problem of obtaining some. After some discussion about the perfectly good stream we had just passed not really being there for the purpose of this challenge, Jonathan fastened some moss to the end of his long stick and lowered it through the gap, the water he retrieved was rather dirty but we decided that after filtering it through some material it would be more than adequate. Clever! I would have died of thirst myself wishing I'd brought a flask of coffee...... This prompted some discussion on survival and whether we could stay out there safely all night if the worst happened, which of course we could given all the gadgets carried, I am sure someone mentioned having a lightweight, fold-up 8 person tent in their pocket.....

Day 3 found us at the base of Snowdon, at sea level - none of this poncy starting at 1000ft for us! This was an exciting day for me and I was in a jubilant mood as we set off up the Rangers path, I have always wanted to climb Snowdon - my Dad took my older brother when he was 11 and I remember being upset that they thought 6 was too young to go. The weather was perfect and I felt recovered from the late night (living in a town has prevented me from being able to see anything but an orange haze in the sky but with the clear sky I saw proper stars, Jupiter and a faint shadow of the milky way for the first time in years so had stayed up late to gaze at the heavens). It was soon warm enough for me to test out the 'detachable leg' function on my walking trousers, which worked fine and were reasonably easy to re-attach later. Mike soon led us off the Rangers path to do some scrambling around the north face, this was much more interesting, we sat at the base gazing up at the intimidating rock face while Mike told us a story involving him attempting to climb the face with his friend Sandy in 1973 and getting stuck on a ledge near the top when night fell. Mountain rescue were called but apparently couldn't do anything due to 'health and safety' so they flew around in their helicopter and brought up a train with a torch on it which lit up the mountain and then waited until morning when Mike and Sandy completed their climb and were whisked away in a landranger away from all the press. While we listened to Mike's story we gazed down at a beautiful pool at the base of the face, it looked pretty inviting for a swim but no-one was brave enough...... I am sure it was very cold! We continued up the left of the north face, over the railway and onto the tourist track.

The North face and inviting pool behind me, I trudge up the hill.

We decided to stop for lunch on the edge overlooking the miners path, it was here that disaster struck when Robin placed his camera on the floor only for it to roll down and bounce over the side, nearly knocking people off the path before continuing to the depths below. This was a real blow for Robin, it was a good camera and he had taken some lovely photos, however he didn't let it get him down and was soon talking about the new model that had just been released, I felt quite humbled by his optimism.

The camera is down there somewhere

A short walk later we reached the incredibly crowded summit, I felt emotional to be finally standing there and spent a little time in quiet reflection before calling Dad and telling him I had made it and I bet I could have done it at age 6 too. So there. Then I got annoyed at the number of people wandering around in flip flops, one of which was overheard by Chris actually saying "well we may as well go to the visitors centre, there's not much else up here!" If I had heard that I would have immediately pushed them off the side. We took the gentle Rhd Ddu path down and went for a well earned pint of Guinness before setting off home tired but very happy.

Forresters Walk - Bromsgrove

There are 3 walks around North Bromsgrove collectively known as 'The Royal Hunters Walks', they vary in length from the Hedgelayers walk at 5 miles, the Chartists Way at 8 and the Forresters Walk at 12. I decided that the only one worth attempting was the longest one (a decision which I am now regretting sat here with aching limbs!). So myself, Gem and Ezz set off at 8:20 this morning with a spring in our step and the sun in the sky.

It was a good walk, no spectacular views and not much change in altitude but some lovely paths through relatively unspoilt woodland. It was well signposted, I had a map with me but didn't need to refer to it except out of interest (although I seem to remember attempting the chartists walk last year with Gem and getting lost). It began to rain at about 10:00, just as the MET office said it would, and rained steadily for about 2 hours, luckily for us most of this was as we walked through forests and were reasonably protected. Not enough protected for me not to realise that the £5 pac a way mac I picked up at a service station a couple of years ago is not very waterproof!

Like the true Britons we are we picnicked in the rain

While we were eating our lunch a group of ramblers came by (more on the differences between 'walkers' and 'ramblers' in another post!) They hadn't checked the weather report and one of them had decided to come out with no waterproof gear, his kind companions had helped him out though - a green binbag with holes cut for his arms and a yellow carrier bag tied to his head to fashion a hat! They were all pointing at him and laughing continually. After lunch we continued on our way, the rain turned to a drizzle and then stopped altogether, I soon dried out - except for my feet - new boots needed!

Gem and Ezz were really happy that the rain had stopped!

We had been discussing snakes earlier in the walk, Ezz is just back from Thailand and was commenting on how nice it is to walk around without worrying that something poisonous will bite you. Also that he has seen more snakes in this country than over there, then we came across a snake! It was quite flat, but identifiable as a grass snake all the same.......

"Yes, I'm pretty sure it's dead"

We were all rather tired when we got home, my hip held out for most of the walk, I needed the trekking poles around mile 8 but managed without any ibuprofen. Aching now though!!
On the whole this is a walk I would recommend to anyone with a good pair of waterproof boots that doesn't like climbing!!!

Illey Way

The Illey Way is a short walk of 4.5 miles through beautiful Worcestershire countryside. It joins Woodgate and Waseley Hills visitor centres and crosses meadows, green lanes and an old dismantled railway viaduct.
I did this walk on 18th August with John and his friend Ezzat, who has just been diagnosed with lung cancer and is building his fitness up to fight it. It was a nice way to test my feet and check the recovery process. I had a small amount of discomfort but nothing to worry about, I wore my running shoes rather than hiking boots to allow my feet to breathe.
Fin the dog covered at least three times the distance and kept disappearing, this was a bit nerve wracking, a few times I began to work out how I could explain to Gem that I had lost her dog. Buzz on the other hand stuck within a metre of me at all times and then couldn't walk for the rest of the day!!!

Offas Dyke

After buying the equipment I would need for backpacking I had decided after some research that a good walk to start with was the Costwold Way which I planned to complete the last week of August.

However the best laid plans are subject to change, sometimes for the better, so when my brother John mentioned that he wanted to complete the Offas Dyke walk he began in May I jumped at the chance to try out my stuff a little earlier. I decided to join him for a couple of days as a training exercise agreeing that if he were to complete it we were looking at 5 days, an adventure that I wasn't convinced I was ready for. I should have known then what would happen, I am not capable of starting something like that and then not finishing (barring death)!

Ready to begin the adventure

We set off brimming with excitement on Wednesday 4th August, ready for adventure and excitement (despite the rubbish forecast). Dad dropped us off in Knighton at the Offas Dyke centre where John had left off in May. Within 10 minutes everything hurt, if I was a little weaker I would have called Dad back immediately and gone home. However, I pressed on and spent the first 2 hours adjusting my pack to make it comfortable. With the help of John I worked out that I was carrying too much weight on my shoulders rather than my hips, once I had realised this it was simply a matter of tightening the waist strap and remembering to walk tall. We covered 14 miles that day and to be honest most of the time my thoughts rotated around the fact that I was an idiot for even thinking I could do this.

First night camp was in a nice lady's back garden

It was great to arrive at the first night camp and relax, the lady whose garden we camped in brought us a lovely cup of tea and penguin biscuit, also she let us use her shower. Bliss!! Within an hour I felt great and I got to use all my new stuff to cook dinner so I was happy.
I had one criteria in mind when choosing equipment - weight! My tent is a Coleman X2, which weighs in at just under a kilo, it is good in this respect and is fine if the weather is dry, however I wouldn't recommend it for British camping as it is only one skin and may not keep you dry if it rains - luckily I didn't have to test this out as it stayed dry every night. I also chose the lightest stove I found, at 73grams I couldn't have done better!! I didn't weigh my whole pack but I am guessing it weighed in about 7-8 kilos. I went for a 65L bag, a regatta survivor which was great, I would recommend getting the smallest bag possible to fit your essentials, that way you are not tempted to take anything you don't need!

The second day of the hike started off well, I had got a little more used to the bag and so I could enjoy the wonderful scenery a little more. Unfortunately this wasn't to last and 7 miles into the 14 miles disaster struck! My hip went from a little bit irritating to almost unable to walk. Fate intervened at this point as we reached a church in a little village that had facilities inside for walkers to make tea and coffee and even have a biscuit!

Restored my faith in humanity!

This lifted my spirits and after a cup of tea, a lie down and a nice chat with a Danish couple I was ready to go again. This was rather short lived and within an hour I was getting to the point where every step felt like someone was twisting my hip. I kept going telling myself not to be pathetic and that people have survived worse injuries and continued to walk miles. There were tears and lots of whinging to poor John but I made it to the bridge at Hay-on-Wye and John gallantly ran off into town to get me painkillers and something nice for dinner.

A wagon wheel, some ibuprofen and I was ready to walk the 10 minutes to the campsite.

We got to stay on the campsite garden which was lovely, in the sun and with a table.

The third day was amazing, and not just because I had copious amounts of painkillers for my hip! I had prepared myself for a difficult climb over the black mountains and we were both aware of the possibility that the weather could still deteriorate and force us to abandon the days walking and seek shelter, this added to the excitement! However we made it, the three hours walking through the cloud which covered the ridge was simply amazing! It was like being put in a sensory deprivation box, visibility was extremely limited and there was no way we could hear each other over the wind. I'd do it again in a heartbeat. My hip was fine and I had built some strength to carry the pack, I felt great, this was my favourite day of the whole walk.

On the bright side we couldn't see just how high we were going to have to climb!

Prepared for walking through cloud. Very wet!
When the clouds finally cleared we could see the view!

We stayed in a lovely campsite in Pandy called 'little oasis' and it really lived up to it's name, the old guy that ran it was one of those people I could chat with (or at least listen to) for hours. He told us some really funny stories about campers and how he'd convinced some that wild flowers were wild because they scream and dance about! He also did excellent impressions of wood pigeons which he used completely apologetically to wake everyone up! He'd also built a mill by himself for his late wife.

The mill that Bill built.

Saturday was John's 30th birthday, I am ashamed to say I was so wrapped up in me that I completely forgot until a throw away comment by John reminded me, bad sister! In my defense I hadn't slept well due to pain in my foot from a growing blister, I had managed to dull it about 3am with some paracetamol and dozed off. John didn't agree that this was a valid excuse and refused to talk to me for ages.....
We stopped at White Castle (which apparently used to be white), this cheered John up a bit and he began to talk to me again, the nice lady in the ticket booth allowed us to leave our bags with her and we toured the castle feeling as light as a feather!

White Castle, John's birthday treat.

On our way to Monmouth we had a call from Gem to say that she was coming to meet us for the evening, she brought all kinds of luxuries including proper towels, chairs, birthday cake, chips, clean clothes, chocolate and my husband!! We all went to a balti place right next to the campsite, by this point I was struggling to walk - with hindsight I should have gone home that night with them but as I said at the start only death would stop me finishing!!

Balti and visitors from civilisation.

The last day was mixed, I wanted to keep walking despite the foot pain and I did manage to block it out most of the time. The view of Tintern Abbey from Devil's point was worth the horrible climb (made more difficult by an attempted short cut!) and counting down the miles was a nice feeling. I don't know if it was adrenaline, the feeling of satisfaction or the fact that I was doing something I love, but I made it to the end!

Reaching the end!!!

After completing this walk I unfortunately ended up with an infection in my foot due to the blister which had got increasingly worse over the last two days, I was ill-prepared for treating and preventing this and ended up on a course of anti-biotics and unable to walk for 5 days. I have done some research on this and I will take better precautions next time.
I have learnt a lot through the experience:

• Your problems don't follow you when you go backpacking, they become insignificant.
• LOOK AFTER YOUR FEET.
• Go as light as possible.
• All you need is to keep warm, dry, fed and blister free. Anything else is a luxury!
• If you get lost throw the guide book continually until you find your way again.
  

In the beginning there were treking poles

I have always enjoyed walking, my parents were always taking the six of us on long walks and up mountains, I think they were motivated by the fact that it was free and the possibility that they might one day manage to lose one us.
I have done a few walks over recent years although I have been more into running until recently. I did Hellvelyn in May 2008, a 14 mile hike in new boots (which were fine incidentally), and have combined May bank holiday hiking trips with long walks.
My brother John decided last spring that he would walk Offas Dyke, a 196 trek from Prestatyn to Sedbury marking the border of England and Wales as King Offa saw it. So during the first bank holiday weekend in May a group of 5 of us set off to support him on the first 2 days of his quest. Although I found it tough I really enjoyed myself and as I was going through a tough time in my life I found it all the more emotionally relaxing. Suffice to say, I was hooked! It was during this weekend that I discovered trekking poles, to be honest I had always secretly laughed at people who used them (unless they were really old of course - I'm not heartless!). I had some issues during the first day with my hip, probably related to the operation I had at 18 months, I struggle with stiles and going down steep slopes. I was in doubt as to whether I would manage to complete the second day, my elder brother had already opted out of half the walk as he had broken his toe doing judo. However my sister Gem came to the rescue and lent me her poles, they were amazing!!! I take back every secret taunting laugh.

I felt really jealous when I left John and Gem the next day to continue the walk with their backpacks, it was just them and nature for the next 4 days. I'd never been backpacking myself but had always wanted to try. I made up my mind there and then to do it. I began researching equipment and got myself the basics I would need for a hike of a few days.

Here I am with Gem on my first test hike to try out backpack etc.

This blog is intended to keep a record of my walking and will hopefully also provide tips for others wanting to take up the hobby.